High court upholds Cirus sentence

Convicted: Prosecutor Cirus Sinaga (center) leaves the court room after being sentenced to five years in prison. JP/Jerry Adiguna Former prosecutor Cirus Sinaga will stay behind bars for five years and pay a Rp 150 million (US$16,500) fine or serve another three months in prison as ruled by the Corruption Court on Oct. 25, 2011, and upheld by the Jakarta High Court.

Jakarta High Court spokesman Ahmad Sobari said that his court had turned down an appeal made by Cirus and favored the Corruption Court's decision.

“Our verdict read 'reaffirming the ruling made by the Corruption Court,'” Sobari said, as quoted by tribunnews.com on Thursday.

Sobari cited the court's ruling on Cirus dated on Feb. 2, 2012.

In the ruling, the panel of judges, presided over by judge Jurnalis Amrad, also told Cirus to stay in the penitentiary.

Cirus, known for having prosecuted several top officials for crimes including corruption and murder, made headlines last year when former taxman Gayus H. Tambunan, currently imprisoned for corruption, announced that he paid Cirus a $50,000 bribe to drop the graft charges against him.

A prosecutor for 26 years, Cirus was involved in several high-profile cases, and led the prosecution of former Corruption Eradication Commission chief Antasari Azhar for masterminding the murder of businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen.

He also led the prosecution of Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, asking that the former Garuda Indonesia pilot be sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of human rights activist Munir. (dmr)